Adjustable pocket stereoscope



H. C. RYKER ADJUSTABLE POCKET sTEREoscoPE Dec. 17, 1940.`

E Filed sept. 16, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l DEC. 17, 1940. H. c RYKER l' ADJUSTABLE POCKET STEREOSCOPE Filed Sept, 16, l1940 2 Sheets-Sheet" 2 Patented Dec. 17, 1940 v UNIT-ED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE POCKET STEREOSCOPE Harrison C. Ryker, Oakland, Calif.

Application September 16, 1940, Serial No. 356,920

' 1o claims. (o1. iss-29).

The invention relates to stereoscopes and more Figure 7 is a front elevation of the stereoscope particularly to that type of portable stereoillustrated in Figure 6. 1 scope used for viewing of vertical aerial photo- Figure 8 is ya plan view of a further modified graphs and the like. form of the stereoscope.

An object of the present invention is to pro- With reference more specifically to the accom- 5 vide a stereoscope of the character described panying drawings, the stereoscope of the present which is composed of astereoscopic eye-piece and invention comprises an veye-piece assembly 6 a foldable support therefor adapted for mountcomposed of a pair of lens holding members or ing on a table or other surface for supporting sections 'I and 8, which in the present instance 10 stereoscopic pictures and which will provide for are of relatively elongated form and are provided 10 a simple and ready adjustment of the eye-piece with lens barrels or mountings 9 .and II adjacent to conform to the individual pupillary spacing arm portions or flanges l2 and I3 0f the SeCtODS- of the eyes of the viewer and which may be Means iS here DIOVided fOr pivoally attaching, quickly and easily adiusted for individual eye the opposite arm portions I4 and I6 0f the secvfocus and for proper image definition. tions so as to permit and confine movement of 15 Another object of the invention is to provide the sections in a substantially common plane and a stereoscope of the character above which is about the axis of the pivotal connection, which composed of a minimum number of sturdily in the present construction is spaced from and formed parts and so designedvand arranged as parallelto the optic axes I1 and I8 of the lenses to fold into substantially at form of minimum so as to afford adjustment of the Spacing be- 20 compact size and be of relatively light weight to tween these axes to conform to various pupillary permit easy portability and roughest type of field spacings of the eyes of the users of the stereoe. scope. Mounted in the lens mountings or barrels Still another object of the invention is to pro- 9 and Il are lenses I9 and 2| which in accordvide an improved type of folding support for a ance with the present construction, are of sphe- 25 stereoscope of the character described which will 4 ICal DRHC-Convex type S0 as t0 minimize image have ,a minimum width so as to provide maxidistortion and to permit rotation of the lens mum compactness and yet at the same time will about the pivotal means aforementioned without provide firm support for the eye-piece in au introducing any prismatic distortion. Any `suitpupillary adjustments thereof and with the maxable pivotal construction may be used at the irnum firmness of support in its normal position. arms I4 and I6 of the sections `and as here shown,

The invention possesses other objects and fea- I fasten theSe ends tOgethel by means 0f a Pivotal tures of advantage, 4some of which, with the forescrew 22. going, will be set forth in the following descrip- `As will be noted from Figure '1, the pivotal contion of the preferred form of the invention which nection 22 for the sections is positioned gen- 35 is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and erally between the optic axes I1 and I8 of the forming part. of the specication. It is to be lenses and the sections I and 8 are of a length understood, however, that variations in the and construction whereby the sections diverge showing may be adopted within the scope of the forwardly flOIn the pivot 22 in the nOImal Pupil- 0 invention as set forth in the claims. lary spacing 0f the lenses, so as to define an open- 4o Referring to said drawings: ing between the sections and the pivot for re. Figure 1 is a plan view of a stereoscope co'nceipt of the bridge portion of the nose of the structed in accordance with the present inven- 115er.

tion.` The eye-piece is adapted for mounting as Figure 2 is a front elevation of the stereo aforementioned in elevated position over a pic- 45 scope illustrated in Figure 1. ture supporting surface 29, such as a table or Figure 3 is anend elevation of the stereoscope. desk or the like,v and in accordance with the Figure 4 is a plan view of the stereoscope simi present construction A a supporting means is atlar to Figure 1, but on a reduced scale showing tached to the eye-piece which may be folded a wide pupillary spacing of the eye-piece. from a compact foldable position agamst the 5o vFigure 5 is a plan view similar to Figure 4, but eye-piece into a depending position therefrom showing a small or narrow pupillary spacing of for supporting the eye-piece. As will be clear the eye-piece. a from the accompanying drawings, I attach to Figure 6 is a plan view-olf a modified form of the sections I and 8 adjacent the flanges I2 and l the stereoscope. I3 thereof, pivotal supporting members 3| and 55 32. In the present instance the members 3| and 32 are each composed of a generally U- shaped member having a pair of spaced substantially parallel legs 33 and 34, and an intermediate connectingr portion having a section 36 thereof disposed at right angles to the length of the legs 33 and 34 and a section 31 which is obliqueto the leg 33 and connects this leg with the straight section 36. The intermediate section 36 of the member is pivotally fastened to the under-side of the sections 'I and 8 by means of a bearing clamp 38 and is secured so that the pivotal axis of the member is substantially perpendicularto a line 26 intersecting the lens centers, thereby incidentally also disposing the legs 33 and 34 parallel to the forward edges 23 and 24 of the sections. In this manner, when the eye-piece is adjusted for normal pupillary spacing, as illustrated in Figure 1, the legs set square with respect to the linstrument, that is, the legs are parallel to each other and parallel to the line 26. In this normal position of adjustment, the supporting ends of the legs are substantially equally spaced on opposite sides of a transverse plane through the center of gravity of theeye-piece and parallel to the lens axes to provide a maximum firmness of support. It is important to note that with the above arrangement the adjusted setting of the stereoscope withboth legs square relative to the eye-piece assembly (in which position the iirmest support is provided) is also the setting for normal or mean human pupillary spacing; and that in said setting the pivot 22 is offset relative to the line 26 between the lens centers; so that the lens axes lie neither at their position of greatest separation nor ofI closest appro ch, but at a setting approximately midway between these extremes. Thus, in adjusting the instrument to accommodate pupillary spacings of individual users, the zero-point or point of origin for such adjustments is the normal pupillary setting, and the setting of rmest support as well. In this way a relatively large range of adjustment is had with the least possible movement out of the 4normal setting; and accordingly this range of adjustment is obtained with the least possible loss of rm support. Obviously ,the vast majority of users will have pupillary spacings deviating only slightly from the normal or mean; and thus, for such users, the deviation from normal setting Will be so slight that firmness of support of the legs is for all practical purposes unimpaired.

The afore-described arrangement of the legs also facilitates the easy detection of the adjustment of the instrument and indicates at once to the user whether the eye-piece is set for a narrow, normal or wide lens spacing.

By particular reference to the drawings, it will be seen that in a wide lens spacing, as illustrated in Figure 4, the legs diverge'rearwardly while in a narrow spacing of the lenses, as illusqtra'ted in Figure 5, the legs diverge forwardly.

In either instance the spacing between the legs 33 and 34 relative to the center of gravity of the instrument is such as to always provide a firm and steady stance for the eye-piece throughout the entire usual adjustable length of the eyepiece, and as aforementioned with the greatest support provided in and adjacent to the normal pupillary spacing of the lenses. It will further be noted that the spacing between the legs 33 and 34' is somewhat greater than the fore and aft dimension of the eye-piece in the normal pupillary adjustment thereof.' as illustratcd in Figure 1. Accordingly, in folding the legs into the plane of the eye-piece, the legs will surround and embrace the eye-piece so as to provide a compact folded construction of min- Iimum size. In this connection it will also be noted that the beveled or inclined part 31 of the supporting member has approximately the same direction of length when folded as, the rearwardly converging rearward edges` 39 and 4| of the sections 'l and 8, whereby the supporting legs when folded generally conform to the peripheral shape of the eye-piece. This relationship of the eyepiece and folded legs is shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. In order to further provide Ia compact arrangement of the stereoscope when folded into horizontalposition as aforementioned, I prefer to offset the pivotal connections for'the supporting legs from the plane of the sections by a distance permitting a direct superimposing of one of the legs upon the other.' This feature will be seen'with reference to Figure 2 wherein the pivotal support for the member 3| is arranged slightly higher on the\eyepiece than is the pivotal support for the member 32, the difference in elevation of these pivotal supports being at least equal to the diameter of the supporting legs, whereby the member 3| will fold up undery the member 32 and in parallel relation therewith.

In using the stereoscope, the supporting legs are folded downward from the eye-piece and rested upon a table or other supporting surface for stereoscopic pictures. At a glance the user will note whether the pupillary spacing of the eyepiece is wide, narrow or normal and make any necessary adjustment for his own eyes. The supporting members 3| and 32 may then be adjusted to` properly regulate the height of the eye-piece from the pictures being viewed and frequently some slight additional adjustment of the lenses is necessary to control the slight bowl-shaped distortion usually common to all simple-lens images. Such adjustment may be readily effected in the present instance by slowly moving the pupillary adjustment inwardly while viewing the pictures stereoscopically. Any slightly concave image will be seen to gradually become convex upon such adjustment and a position of adjustment may be found where the image is substantially at. Once set, the instrument will retain its adjustment unless deliberately changed by another user, or folded up.

In Figures 6 and 7 I have illustrated a somewhat modied form of the invention. In this embodiment, the sections or members l' and 3' are not only connected together by means of the pivot screw 22', but are by the latter pivotally attached to what may be conveniently termed an attaching or linking member 5|. Support for the eye-piece assembly is provided by legs 3| and 32' similar in function and operation to the legs 3| and 32, but secured to the ends of the member 5| instead of to the sections or members as in the first described embodiment. As will beclear from Figure 6, in which the members 1' and 8 are positioned for normal pupillary separation, said` members are so arranged that they may be readily adjusted for varying the pupillary separation to the requirements of the user, and that a large range. of adjustments is permitted both for increased and decreased separation with respect to normal, without removing from between thel free ends of each set of the supporting legs, the plane defined by the lens axes.

In Figure 8, is illustrated a slight modification of the form of the invention shown in Figures 6 and 7. In this embodiment the lens holding members 1" and 8", instead of having a common 5 pivotal connection,v are independently pivotally secured to the link member 5I by screws '52 and 53 respectively, which are spaced transversely of each other along the link. With this form of the invention the distance between the lens centers and the pivotal axes may be shorter, so that movement of vthe members may be more directly opposed in adjusting the device.

I claim: 1. A fiat-folding pocket stereoscope comprisingz---an eyepiece assembly including two lensholding members, lenses carried'thereby, pivotal connection means for said members spaced from the axes of said lenses and providing pivotal movement of said members in a common plane perpendicular to the lens axes to afford accommodation to the pupillary spacings of individual users; and support means for saideyepiece assembly including a plurality of legs pivotally attached to said eyepiece assembly and foldable to an operative position depending therefrom for supporting said eyepiece assembly above a table or the like with said plane in substantially parallel relation thereto and with the lens axes substantially perpendicular thereto; the pivotal attachment of said legs to said assembly providing a folding of said legs to an inoperative position with said legs positioned adjacent and parallel to said cornmon plane of pupillary adjustment.

2. A flat-folding pocket stereoscope comprising:-an eyepiece assembly including two lensholding members, lenses carried thereby, and means providing a pivotal connection for each of said members for movement in a substantially common plane perpendicular to both lens axes to afford accommodation to the pupillary spacings of individual users; and supporting means including. a pair of support units pivotally attached adjacent opposite ends of said eyepiece assembly and rotatable to an operative position depending from said eyepiece assembly wherein said eyepiece assembly may be held above a flat supporting surface with both lens axes substantially perpendicular to said surface; said support units and pivotal attachment thereof to said assembly being so constructed and arranged to permit rotation of said units to an inoperative position wherein substantially all portions of said support units lie substantially at the common plane of pupillary adjustment, each of said support units having at least two support points to engage the fiat supporting surface when `in operative position, and one pivotal portion attached to said eyepiece assembly as aforesaid, all of said support points in each unit defining a line parallel to the pivotal 50 portion of said unit.

3..A flat-folding pocket stereoscope comprisingz-an eyepiece assembly including two elongated lens-holding members pivotally linked adjacent an end of each. member to provide pupillary adjustment of the members in a common plane, lenses carried by said members and mounted with their viewing axes perpendicular to said plane; and a pair of supporting members, each including at least two support points and a pivotal portion, means journaling said pivotal portions adjacent the opposite ends of said first members, said support points defining a line parallel to said pivotal portion; said supporting members being radially adjustable about said means either to an operative'position wherein they depend transversely therefrom to provide support for saideyepiece assembly over a fiat surface with the lens axes substantially perpendicular thereto, or to an inoperative position wherein they lie fiat in proximate relation with the common plane of pupillary adjustment.

4. A fiat-folding pocket stereoscope comprisingz--an eyepiece assembly including two lensholding members pivotally linked in spaced relation to their viewing axes to provide pupillary adjustment between the members in a. common plane perpendicular to said axes; a pair of supporting members, each including at least two suD- port points and a pivotal portion, said support points defining a line parallel to said pivotal portion; and means pivotally attaching said portions adjacent opposite ends of said eyepiece assembly for rotatable movement of said supporting points to a plurality of positions spaced from said eyepiece assembly to support the latter at diierent elevations over a at surface with the lens axes substantially perpendicular to said surface.

5. A flat-folding pocket stereoscope comprisingz-an eyepiece assembly including two lensholding members and a linking member, said lens-holding members being pivotally connected to said linking member to provide oscillatory movement of said first members in a common plane perpendicular to the lens axes to permit adjustment to the pupillary spacing of individual users; and supporting means including support units pivotally attached adjacent opposite ends of said linking member and rotatable to an operative position depending from said eyepiece assembly for supporting the latter above a flat supporting surface with said lens axes substantially perpendicular thereto, and rotatable to an inoperable position wherein said support units lie substantially in their entirety in substantially the common plane of pupillary adjustment.

6. Av flat-folding pocket stereoscope comprisingz-an eyepiece assembly including two lens-4 holding members and a linking member, means l independently pivotally connecting said lens holding members to said linking member and providing relative movement between said lens holding members in a common plane perpendicular to the lens axes to permit accommodation to the pupillary spacing of individual users; and supporting means including a pair of support unitsv .independently connecting said lens-holding members to said linking member to afford relative movement of the former in a common plane perpendicular to the lens axes to permit accommodation to the pupillary spacing of individual users; and supporting means including supporting units connected to said linking member adjacent oppositeiends thereof and adjustable to 'support the linking member at different elevations from a supporting surface.

8. A nat-folding pocket stereoscope comprising:-a pair of lens-holding members, lenses 'carried by said members, means pivotally joining said membersy for movement in a common plane aboutv ari axis positioned between, and parallel to the optic axes of said lenses to aiord adjustment '5 ofthe spacing between said optic axes to conform to the pupillary spacings of individual users; said members and means being so constructed and arranged to position said pivotal axis at one side of a line through the ytwo lens-centers when said l members are adjusted for normal pupillary spacing; and a pair of legs pivotally attached adjacent the outer portions of each of said members along axes parallel to said common plane of pupillary adjustment and substantially at right l angles to the line through both lens-centers when the latter are adjusted for normal pupillary spacing, said legs being foldable about their axes of attachment from positions substantially in said common pla-ne of adjustment, to positions de-` 20 pendent transversely therefrom and arranged in said latter positions to support said members above a picture-supporting surface with said optic axes substantially perpendicular` thereto and with the free ends of each pair of legs spaced on op- 25 posite sides of the plane through both optic axes,

and defining lines at right angles to the line through both lens-centersv when the latter are adjusted for normal pupillary spacing.

9. A fiat-folding pocket stereoscope compris- 30 ingz-a pair of lens-holding members each having an arm and a ilange substantially on opposite sides of a lens-holding portion,'lenses carried by said portions, said arms being joined pivotally about an axis parallel with the optic axes of said lenses and positioned to one side of a line through both lens--centers ywhen the latter are adjusted for normal pupillary spacing, said members being movable about said pivotal point in a plane perpendicular to the opticaxes during ad- 40 justment to accommodate the pupillary spacing of individual users; U-shaped supporting legs pivotally attached to said flanges with axes of pivotal attachment parallel to the common plane of pupillary adjustment, said axes being offset one 45 with respect to the other whereby the legs may be swung from a transversely dependent operative position into positions defining closely spaced superimposed planes parallel to the common plane of pupillary adjustment, one leg unit being longer 50 than the other to compensate for the said offset relation, thereby permitting support when the legs are in symmetric angular relation to said eyepiece assembly of said lens-holdingmembers above a at supporting surface withthe optic axes substantially perpendicular thereto; the axes of attachment of said legs to said members being so arranged as to be mutually parallel and at right angles to the line through both lens-centers when the latter are adjusted for normal pupillary spacing.

10. A flat-folding pocket stereoscope comprising:-a pair of lens-holding members each having an arm and a flange substantially on opposite sides of a lens-holding portion, lenses carried by said portions, said arms being joined pivotally about an axis parallel with the optic axes of the lenses and positioned to one side of a line through both lens-centers when the latter are adjusted for normal pupillary spacing, said members being movable aboutsaid pivotal axis in a plane perpendicular to the optic axes during adjustment to accommodate the pupillary spacing oi! individual users; U-shaped supporting legs pivotally attached to said flanges with axes of pivotal attachment parallel to the common plane of pupillary adjustment, said axes being offset one with respect to the other whereby the legs maybe swung from transversely dependent operative positions into positions dening closely spaced superimposed planes parallel to the common plane of pupillary adjustment, one leg unit being longerthan the other to compensate for the said oiset relation, therebypermitting support when the legs are in symmetric angular relation to said eye-piece assembly of said lensholding members above a at supporting surface with the optic axes substantially perpendicular thereto; the axes of attachment of said legs to said members being so arranged as to be mutually parallel and at right angles to the line through both lens-centers when the latter are adjusted for normal pupillary spacing, the form and arrangement of said legs being such that when folded into inoperative position with said lensholding members adjusted for normal pupillary spacing the portions of said legs extending from their axes of attachment, will substantially surround and conform to the peripheral shape of the lens-holding members.

HARRISON C. RYKER. 

